Towing In North Carolina

[tim worner]

Yesterday went to the DOT in Harrisburg,Pa with questions on this subject. The bottom line was are u commercial or not. If commercial and over 10,000 lbs you have to stop at weigh stations and have a DOT number and in compliance with insurance,log book, correct weight,ect. However under 26.001 lbs and not commercial ok. We need a way to show non-commercial. The fine in Pa. for not stopping at the weigh station is $300. So what to do. I for one am not going to stop untill I have too. I hope the bill passes in N.C> and is adopted by other states. In N.Y. over 17,000 some odd lbs you are supposed to have a HUT sticker on your vehicle{highway usage tax) I wonder if NHRA would help us with this????????????

[Keith 944]

Originally Posted by chevy620

I researched this about as much as I could for an article I wrote for www.dragracingonline.com a couple years ago.

Several things remain the same and some change minute to minute, depending on enforcement officer.

1. Weight is important but more so if you deduct the vehicles or the racing expenses from you Federal or STate taxes, that defines you as a commercial enterprise. You are "not for hire" but you would be commercial.
2. All states are short on funding and you can COUNT ON ONE THING, better enforcement to drive up revenues to save the enforcement officer's job.
3. The bottom line is actually this:

• be courteous if stopped.
• don't tell them what you have, let them tell you first.
• Ask what you can do to be in compliance.
• I will tell them I race for money, not profit. I cannot predict if a trip is going to net any revenue until it is over. If it does make money, I claim that money on my taxes.
• Personally, I tow with a regular diesel pusher motor home and have a 26' stacker. Coach is 29,000 lbs and trailer is about 15,000 lbs. Length is 72'. I have a Class A CDL with air brake endorsement and a copy of my DOT physical with my log book.
• I keep a very accurate log book, I carry the FMCSA Code Book (avaialble at any big truck stop), do my Pre-Trip inspections and log them in, carry the required spare fuses, emergency equipment any DOT / Commercial driver must have.
• If you look like you are making an effort to be compliant without in most cases you might get a warning. I got a THANK YOU in Missouri from a Trooper who said I was the first one he had stopped that year who actually had a log book and Pre-Trip records. He just told me to have a safe trip. He also liked "that thing" I was using behind my motor home, the Trailer Toad.

To ignore this problem is foolish but to try to become an over-the-road trucker as a weekend racer is absurd as well. Just meet them half-way and don't be a smart-a**. Most of those guys are OK, they have a tough job and if it looks like you are trying to be safe they will appreciate that.
If half of your lights are out, the tires look like crap, your safety chains are held on with wire ties and everything looks worn out.........expect to be checked. Their job includes protecting other people from your negligence.

I will try to get a link to my article up here later today so you have some information to think about.

You can expect more inspections with budget cuts. The guys with the toter homes and big white trucks with semi-truck type axle ratings, air brakes on the trailer, etc can expect to meet Federal DOT regulations very soon. It won;t matter if it is registered as a motor home according to DOT officials I interviewed. They will look at the axle weight rattings, tire weight limits, air brake endorsements on your CDL (you have one right?) and log book accuracy.

Regular motor homes will fly under the radar a little better, the AARP lobby for retired motor home owners is a strong force keeping motor homes away from the hassles. Even though I have to agree, an 80 year old at the wheel of a 40,000 lb Prevost does SCARE THE HE** OUT OF ME!!

Good luck and tow safe.

Jok Nicholson

i drive a hazmat tractor trailer, (hold a class a with every endorsment) and cannot answer all needed questions troopers can come up with. if they want to find something to fine you they can and will, i like jok's post because the best thing you can do is be very polite, do anything they ask and help in any way, if you are trying to comply not being a a-hole, it will go a long way. and by the way, they don't know what to think of the toad! (better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission)

[Roger K Fain]

I think I had the "original sin" 2 1/2 years ago near Mt. Airy, about two miles from the VA. border. One of you who posted that someone near the border has a ....on for racers is correct. His name is Marvin Graves and he is a weight and measures control officer who "lurks" at the border just picking off trailers of racers who appear otherwise law-abiding travelers. I appealed my case to the Governor of NC, and the Chief of the Weights and Measures Division, to no avail. It cost me $220.00 to visit the state of NC and I am still very bitter about it.

[63corvette]

I do not think the bureaucrats really think about the harrassment of out of state travellers when they hand out the fines and won't listen to reason. It really hurts their future travellers and visitors as people who race talk. We all leave a pretty good sum of money as we travel and race.
I have avoided NC and most of the north east due to the harrassment of vehicles with trailers. I also do not ever plan to visit Utah or cross the state again for the same reason. I have a trucker friend who drives around Colorado for the same reason. He always drives way out of what would be a normal route with his trucking fleet to miss Colorado due to harrassment from the state patrol.
It costs the states and their businesses and I have a very long memory for that type of thing.
My 2 Cents